U.S. Industries to acquire Dual-Lite

Bolstering its position in the emergency lighting market, U.S. Industries Inc., Iselin, N.J., agreed to purchase Dual-Lite, Cheshire, Conn., from SPX Corp. Financial terms were not disclosed.

U.S. Industries said it expects to complete the transaction by April 1. U.S. Industries has had a presence in emergency lighting products through Prescolite, which is part of U.S. Industries' subsidiary, Lighting Corp. of America, but the addition of Dual-Lite, considered a premier emergency-lighting brand, will significantly strengthen USI's offering in that category, said several lighting industry observers. Dual-Lite, with about $51 million in annual sales, markets products under the Dual-Lite, EZ-2, Spectron and Liteforms brands.

The sale of Dual-Lite was the subject of much speculation, particularly after SPX took Dual-Lite out of the EGS Electrical Group and operated the company under its General Signal subsidiary. News of the sale did not surprise some manufacturers' representatives for Dual-Lite, who said they expected Dual-Lite to be sold because the EGS Electrical Group did not have a broad lighting package outside of Appleton's hazardous-location lighting products and Dual-Lite's products.